President’s Report from the August 26, 2017 Board Meeting

Six members out of the eight TIFD board members met in Austin, Texas on August 26th, 2017 – one day, in a string of the worst days, in the history of the Coast of Texas…

During my officer report, I let everyone know that one of our board members recently resigned from his position. Garry Karner will not be able to continue his duties on the board or as the Vice President of the board. We wish him luck in all of his future endeavors!

Emily Clement was elected to take over as Vice President until the next board elections in February of 2018. Emily is on her sixth year on the board. She has always been an asset to the board, bringing years of experience from her work with her local dance group, the Houston International Folk Dancers, as well as her professional experience in a law office.

Holly and Lisa agreed to continue acting as Secretary for recording our meetings. These two tireless and determined women have been handling a few of the board secretary duties (they are already involved in other TIFD positions) until we can find someone who would be able to handle all the duties this position includes. Other secretarial duties include correspondence, coordination, and just generally supporting the structure the board relies on (such as our email group). We are currently relying more heavily on our web administrators, President, and TIFD Treasurer.

In November, during Thanksgiving Camp 2017, the board will be nominating and electing four new board members. One of these positions will be a one year term, to fill the open spot left by Mr. Karner. The other three positions are three year terms. The following is an excerpt from our ever faithful Board Manual of useful information.

As a steward of the resources and the future of TIFD, Board members should try to:

share the workload of the Board, including serving as an officer and/or committee chair, working on Board committees, and actively participating in Board meetings;

communicate effectively with Board members and appointees (e.g., Camp Chairs);

use the computer to create, transmit, receive and review TIFD-related documents through e-mail and through the Board’s Yahoo! Group list server;

develop a basic understanding of TIFD finances and investments;

develop a basic understanding of any legal issues that TIFD encounters; and,

respond in a timely and adequate manner to requests and action items, particularly committee reports and support materials for Board meetings.’

When you are asked to serve on the board, please give this volunteer position your consideration.